So I played it in my dreams [MAJOR SPOILERS!!!]

[Winterwolf]

So I managed to play Alpha Protocol in my dreams. Here are my impressions.

 

First things first. Art design. The screenshots that Obsidian shows are a lie. The Art Design takes it's cues more from Mask of the Betrayer kind of thing. Some locations were like... there was this place that resembled the best parts of Wall of the Faithless, Korriban and Malachor 5. I know Korriban and Malachor 5 are considered to be examples of bad level design, but I'm talking about the visual side, not how you were allowed to move in them.

 

The level design was very smooth. It was a dream after all so it felt like I could go anywhere.

 

Combat for some reason in my dream was in first-person. I guess the third-person thing is also a lie by Obsidian. I'm not an expert to judge first-person... all I can say is that it felt pretty damn real.

 

Now to the storyline. Now this was weird. There's this female politician and...

 

Well the thing is that there was this President guy and he went to some unholy site in nearby Iroquis Confederacy lands. Unholy because it was the land of Skinwalkers. He contacted those skinwalker spirits because he wanted to have eternal life. He wanted to know how to become a Skinwalker. So he did. And it meant that after one of his skins died or was released of power, his skinless body waited in the dark halls of White House for the newly elected presidental candidate to come and then he attacked him, ripped his skin off and weared it as his own. "Democracy is for suckers!" And then he ate that dead guy. So technically he was a king that lived forever, just with different faces.

 

So when you start the game you don't know this. There's this female politician who gives you assigments. You pretty much have to eliminate all things that stand against her presidential candidation. So you kill a lot of people and it feels like you are feeding from their essence... like their deaths make you stronger somehow.

 

So she becomes a president and then tries to kill you. You get pissed off, kill a lot of people and then stand before her. She then reveals the secret - you are that skinwalker president guy. Your memory was removed once you were forced to wear the skin of some random white trash guy and you were made to believe like you were some spy agent working for the government, while actually you have been the government for past centuries.

 

And now you have to kill her for some unexplained reason.

 

So you kill her. And now it gets really weird. Turns out that she is also that skinwalker president guy. You are both that guy. But you are her hunger. It's very fuzzy.... I think there might be some plotholes here. You are like that cannibalistic hunger turned into a person. And that's why killing people makes you stronger. You are a hole in the fabric of reality, consuming all that stands before you. You are the opposite of life... not death, but the nothingness. You have become the primal nothingness. Life doesn't die with you, it just has never existed once it meets you. Before she dies she mentions how beautiful you are to her. And then you leave.

 

I was generally surprised by the storyline. It wasn't what I expected at all. But I think Obsidian tried to do some social/political commentary with this. I just didn't get it. I have a feeling that the non-obsidianite world will just not get it and that it might be ridiculed. But... as confusing as the storyline was, it felt awesome.

 

There were also partymembers. Liara and Wrex with tentacles.

 

Discuss.

[Purkake]

Another Estonian?

 

Why must you steal my thunder.

 

 

Tere

 

[Winterwolf]

Drats! It seems you already have taken up the role of a drunken jester who makes clever jokes that hide the cleverer joke beneath. Joke so layered with jokes that only a deeper meditation will reveal the unobvious beneath the obvious exterior. I think I have to find a different forum, because you and I are not each other's alts. Nope. It would be too suspicious. And I am an individual.

 

 

Tere eestlane. Hilja

[Purkake]

And I am an individual.

 

 

Tere eestlane. Hilja

[kingofsquid]

So I managed to play Alpha Protocol in my dreams. Here are my impressions.

 

First things first. Art design. The screenshots that Obsidian shows are a lie. The Art Design takes it's cues more from Mask of the Betrayer kind of thing. Some locations were like... there was this place that resembled the best parts of Wall of the Faithless, Korriban and Malachor 5. I know Korriban and Malachor 5 are considered to be examples of bad level design, but I'm talking about the visual side, not how you were allowed to move in them.

 

The level design was very smooth. It was a dream after all so it felt like I could go anywhere.

 

Combat for some reason in my dream was in first-person. I guess the third-person thing is also a lie by Obsidian. I'm not an expert to judge first-person... all I can say is that it felt pretty damn real.

 

Now to the storyline. Now this was weird. There's this female politician and...

 

Well the thing is that there was this President guy and he went to some unholy site in nearby Iroquis Confederacy lands. Unholy because it was the land of Skinwalkers. He contacted those skinwalker spirits because he wanted to have eternal life. He wanted to know how to become a Skinwalker. So he did. And it meant that after one of his skins died or was released of power, his skinless body waited in the dark halls of White House for the newly elected presidental candidate to come and then he attacked him, ripped his skin off and weared it as his own. "Democracy is for suckers!" And then he ate that dead guy. So technically he was a king that lived forever, just with different faces.

 

So when you start the game you don't know this. There's this female politician who gives you assigments. You pretty much have to eliminate all things that stand against her presidential candidation. So you kill a lot of people and it feels like you are feeding from their essence... like their deaths make you stronger somehow.

 

So she becomes a president and then tries to kill you. You get pissed off, kill a lot of people and then stand before her. She then reveals the secret - you are that skinwalker president guy. Your memory was removed once you were forced to wear the skin of some random white trash guy and you were made to believe like you were some spy agent working for the government, while actually you have been the government for past centuries.

 

And now you have to kill her for some unexplained reason.

 

So you kill her. And now it gets really weird. Turns out that she is also that skinwalker president guy. You are both that guy. But you are her hunger. It's very fuzzy.... I think there might be some plotholes here. You are like that cannibalistic hunger turned into a person. And that's why killing people makes you stronger. You are a hole in the fabric of reality, consuming all that stands before you. You are the opposite of life... not death, but the nothingness. You have become the primal nothingness. Life doesn't die with you, it just has never existed once it meets you. Before she dies she mentions how beautiful you are to her. And then you leave.

 

I was generally surprised by the storyline. It wasn't what I expected at all. But I think Obsidian tried to do some social/political commentary with this. I just didn't get it. I have a feeling that the non-obsidianite world will just not get it and that it might be ridiculed. But... as confusing as the storyline was, it felt awesome.

 

There were also partymembers. Liara and Wrex with tentacles.

 

Discuss.

 

 

...WHAT THE CRAP!!!!!?????

[Winterwolf]

Translation:

 

The female politician is Kreia-Ravel. The skinwalker thing is a dab at Avellone, since all his games have elements of cannibalism in them.

 

"So you kill a lot of people and it feels like you are feeding from their essence... like their deaths make you stronger somehow."

 

Is a dab at how Kotor 2 explained level-up's.

 

"She then reveals the secret - you are that skinwalker president guy. Your memory was removed once you were forced to wear the skin of some random white trash guy and you were made to believe like you were some spy agent working for the government, while actually you have been the government for past centuries. "

 

Is a dab at Torment and Mask of the Betrayer.

 

"And now you have to kill her for some unexplained reason. "

 

Is a dab at Kreia.

 

"So you kill her. And now it gets really weird. Turns out that she is also that skinwalker president guy. You are both that guy. But you are her hunger. It's very fuzzy.... I think there might be some plotholes here. "

 

Is a dab at both Mask and Kotor 2. How in Mask you was two people in one and how Kotor 2 got pretty confusing in the end.

 

"You are like that cannibalistic hunger turned into a person. And that's why killing people makes you stronger. You are a hole in the fabric of reality, consuming all that stands before you. You are the opposite of life... not death, but the nothingness. You have become the primal nothingness. Life doesn't die with you, it just has never existed once it meets you."

 

Dab at Darth Nihilus and how you was actually Darth Nihilus and he just a faint shadow of you.

 

"Before she dies she mentions how beautiful you are to her. And then you leave."

 

Kreia joke. And that's how Kotor 2 ended.

 

"I have a feeling that the non-obsidianite world will just not get it and that it might be ridiculed. But... as confusing as the storyline was, it felt awesome."

 

Is a dab at how Obsidian is like the Joss Whedon of game writing world. Few get it, and we fans might not get either... but we enjoy it nonetheless. Also a hidden dab against Kotor 2 apologists.

 

Basically, the post is a musing on Chris Avellone's writing in general, a parody of it, and a wondering about what if AP just shares too much with Obsidian's past games and how peculiar it would be then. Also, I really did play it in my dream.

[AlphaPro]

hmmm... thats kind of strange. When it came to me in my dreams, It was third person, unlike yours. The plot remained similar to yours, but you must have been high or somethin because you got the gameplay all wrong. I also found the dialogue stance system very intriguing, because all the stances were in italian.

[Winterwolf]

hmmm... thats kind of strange. When it came to me in my dreams, It was third person, unlike yours. The plot remained similar to yours, but you must have been high or somethin because you got the gameplay all wrong. I also found the dialogue stance system very intriguing, because all the stances were in italian.

 

Strange. Perhaps you played it on console?

 

What about the art and level design?

[AlphaPro]

well, in my dream it was more of a demo, so I only played one small level in the forest. The trees were very realistic, even to the point of a family of squirrels living inside one. Needless to say I shot them all with my super tricked out Ak-47 with a barrel the size of a cannon.

[Winterwolf]

If you would have invested in your "druid skills" you could have become one with those squirrels.

 

 

As in your mind is now in their mind, and then you all drink tea and sing happy family songs, while rainbows and bluebirds dance and sing.

 

I think it's probably an easter egg. I didn't try it on other animals so I don't know if it's a feature in itself.

Edited September 7, 2009 by Winterwolf

[AlphaPro]

so as i continued through the forest, I eventually found the boss, some guy with a rainbow afro and star glasses. i tried to reason with him, but since all my responses were in italian, I accidently pissed him off. So, during our fight,I ran up to him and bayonetted him with the knife that had magically appeared on my modded Ak-47. Also, during this time, Michael had changed his outfit to an ugly green sweater and REALLY baggy cargo pants, which added to the realistic feel. The enemie collapsed on the ground, said some inaudible thing that appeared in subtitles on the botom of the screen as 'Kerploosh!' and then died. A mission display screen popped up and leveled me up to 7456.

[Winterwolf]

Best. Game. Ever.

Edited September 7, 2009 by Winterwolf

[AlphaPro]

Totally. I just hope that its as good as the dream version

[Trenitay]

The real version is a million times better.